Mechanical belay



March 16, 1943. s. NELSON 2,313,959

MECHANICAL I 12121.19:

Filed June 26, 1941 21% 412 FIG-.1 96 .3 W T 22 263 Q I. Q 3 300 .408407 06 4 I 42: 40o

405 see 42a 403 404 391 L as: am

Gurinar Nelson Inventor His Attorney Patented Mar. 16, 1943 2,313,959MECHANICAL RELAY Gunnar Nelson, Dayton, Ohio, assignor to The NationalCash Register Company, Dayton, Ohio, a corporation of Maryland Originalapplication January 21, 1938, Serial No.

1941, Serial No. 399,931

13 Claims.

This invention relates to a mechanical relay or control transmittingmeans for transferring the setting of certain groups of elements toother groups of elements.

This application is a division of the application for United StatesLetters Patent, Serial No. 186,107, which was filed by Gunnar Nelson onJanuary 21, 1938, and which issued on January 27, 1942, as Patent No.2,270,960.

It is often desirable to transfer the setting of certain elements toother elements after the certain elements have been set and to be ableto do this without adding the load of setting the other elements to themeans which sets said certain elements.

It is an object of this invention to provide a means for transferringcontrolling representations from one set of elements to another.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for setting a secondelement according to the setting of a first element without requiringthe setting means for the first element to set both elements.

A further object of this invention is to provide a power-operated meansoperable, after certain elements have been set to indicate a control, totransmit the control indication to other elements.

Another object of this invention is to provide a transmitting meanswhich is operable to successively transmit a plurality of controlindications during a single transmitting operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide means for simultaneouslytransmitting a control from one plurality of elements to anotherplurality of elements, in which the side spacing of the elements of thedifferent plurality of elements need not be uniform. I

Another object of the'invention is to provide an internally-geared,laterally-moving transmitting means whereby the same transmitting meanscan be moved laterally and associated successively with several controldevices, making it unnecessary to have a separate transmitting devicefor each control device.

With these and incidental objects in view, the invention includescertain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, theessential elements of which are set forth in appended claims and apreferred form or embodiment of which is hereinafter described withreference to the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of thisspecification.

In said drawing: Fig. 1 is a plan view of the transmitting means Dividedand this application'June 26,

and a portion of the settable elements with which General descriptionThe transmitting means or mechanical relay is used to transfer thesetting of preset groups of plates or elements to other related groupsof plates or elements. It consists of a laterallyshiftable unit having aforwardly-extending .arm for each group of preset plates and acorresponding rearwardlyextending arm for each of the other relatedgroupsof plates, which arms are connected by internal gearing for jointmovement.

The unit is shifted laterally, step by step, to po itions opposite theplates of the'groups and in each DQ ition is oscillated to transfer thesetting fromthe preset plate to'the other related plate. The presetplates may occupy either a lower or an upper position according to thecontrol to be exerted, and, if the plate is in its upper position, thecomplete oscillation of the forwardly and rearwardly extending arms isblocked, and the other related plate is'not shifted; but, if the presetplate is in its lower position, the forwardlyextendingarm will be.allowed to makea complete oscillation, and the connectedrearwardlyextending arm will cause the other related plate to beshifted.In this manner, each set of interconnected arrns canbe successivelyoperated to transfer the setting of the several preset plates of a groupto a related group of plates.

H Detailed description ;As explained fully in the above mentio ned.Patent-No. 2,270,960, two groups of plates 36l (Figs. rants 3) .areprovided, which plates may be selectively set ,to occupy an upper or alower positiontc represent data. The data representations of the groupsof plates 36! are transmitted to related groups of plates 296 to enablethese 'lastemsntioned plates to control the machine.

Inasmuch as the details of the means for setting the plates 35] and themanner in which the plates .296 exert their control are not necessaryforan understanding of the present invention, they will not be describedherein, and reference may be had to'said Patent No. 2,270,960 for thesedetails if iurthe'rinformation is desired. v

tive control by roller cam 'to shaft in a counter-clockwise direction,

:cams rotation, treme right position, said movement being ex- -III plateof each group; movement until the shaft' is moved between the shaft 399The means for transmitting data from the groups of plates 361 to theirrelated groups of plates 296 will now be described.

Referring to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be seen that each of the plates 361has, extending rearwardly, a step 399 and that the position of eachplate, whether raised or lowered, may be judged according to whether itsstep is in the raised or the lowered position.

The transmitting means which conveys the position of each of the plates361 to the corre-'- sponding plates 2915 consists of aforwardly-extending lever 391 (Figs. 1, 2, and 3) for each of the twogroups of plates 391; a hub 398 for each lever 391, on which each leveris rotatably mounted; a shaft 399, on which the hubs are secured; acorresponding lever 499 for each lever 391, said levers 490 extendingrearwardly; individual hubs 399 on which each lever 400 is rotatablymounted; a yoke 492 for each set of levers 391 and 490; plates 493secured to the shaft 399, to which the yokes 492 are fastened; springs4114 holding each lever 391 and 499 in yielding contact with its yoke;and shafts 411 and 418 for connecting levers 391 with theircorresponding levers 409.

The transmitting means, which transmits data representations from theplates 361, which comprise groups of settable plates, to their relatedplates 296, which also form groups of plates, is adapted to accommodatediiferent side spacing of the various groups of plates, the groups ofplates 296 in lateral disposition in the machine being spread out, whilethe groups of plates 361 are close together.

Shaft 399 (Fig. 1) is shiftable laterally in bearings 495 and is alsorotatable. The lateral movement of said shaft is supplied underposifollower 406, pinned 399, moving in a circumferential groove 49'! indrum cam 408, which cam is secured on a rotatable shaft 410 and, at theproper time in each machine cycle, makes a complete rotation as viewedfrom the right side. Fig. 1 shows the cam 408 in rest position and alsothe shaft 399 in the extreme left position or rest position. Dividinginto degrees the drum cams circumference, the

groove 491, duringthe first 30 degrees of the forces the shaft 399 tothe exactly that required to shift levers 391 across four plates 361from the IV plate to the I plate (Fig. 1) in their respective groups.The rotation from the thirtieth to the ninetieth degree of thecircumference of cam 408 causes no lateral motion to shaft 399. From theninetieth to the 120th degree, the shaft is moved to the leftsufficiently to move the levers 391 to the II plate of each group. Theshaft remains laterally stationary from the 120th degree to the 180thdegree on the .cam. From the 180th degree to the 210th degree, the shaftmoves to the left again, so that levers 391 are opposite the then thereis no lateral 270th degree and the 300th degree to the extreme left, sothat levers 391 are opposite the IV plate of each group. During theperiods when levers 391 are not in lateral motionnamely, the next sixtydegrees of rotation after the 30th, 120th, 210th, and 300th degreestheis rocked counter-clockwise, then clockwise, as viewed from. the right,by means of positive drive double lplate. cam 409. (Figs; 1

shown in Fig. 2. Shaft 10, rotating twice each machine cycle, has pinnedto it a gear 69 driving gear 61, pinned to shaft 68, once every cycle ofoperation. Gear 412, rotatably mounted on stud 413 projecting from theframe, is driven once every machine cycle by gear 199, which is alsopinned to shaft 68. I-Iubbed to gear 452 is a mutilated gear 414designed to impart intermittent motion to Geneva wheel 415. The Genevawheel is rotated by the mutilated gear 414 once every machine cyclebetween the 220th and the 360th degrees and is locked in the usualmanner by the Geneva stop consisting of a concave projection on theintermittently-driven gear 415 and a convex perimeter on the mutilatedgear 414.

The shaft 399, as has been shown, by moving bodily the hubs 398, thelevers 391 and 499, the yokes 492, and the plates 493, positions levers391 (Fig. l) in the plane of each of the four plates 391 of its relatedgroup of plates in succession, once each machine operation. Each timethe levers 391 stop in the plane of a plate 361, the shaft, asexplained, makes a rocking motion on its long axis, turning plates 493and yokes 492 first counter-clockwise, then clockwise, as viewed fromthe right side. Levers 391 tend to follow the yoke 402counter-clockwise, due to the tension of springs 494. Referring to 2, itis evident that, if plate 361 is raised, its rearwardly-extending step396 will prevent lever 391 from following the yoke 402'. If a plate 361is in a down position, the lever will follow the yoke until its end hitsthe step. Thus the lever 391, as it moves along its four positions,feels the position of each plate 391, which, if raised, causes morerelative motion between the hub 396 and the lever 391 than if the plateis in the down position.

It is desired that, whenever there is relative motion between levers 391and their hubs 398, the levers 499 have the same relative motion;therefore each lever 391 is geared to its corresponding lever 499 insuch a manner that the movements of levers 391 around hubs 398positively move levers 499 in the same direction about their hubs, eachpair of levers 391 and 439 being movable independently of the other pairof levers and. representing a group of plates 361 and 296, respectively.

The system of gearingdisclosed in United States Patent No. 1,693,279issued to Walter J. Kreider is used to achieve the desired pairedmovement of levers 391 and 400 and consists of internal gearing, whichwill now be described.

Hubs'398 are furnished for each lever 39'! and 409, making four in all.Each hub near the periphery has ten small holes 419 and one large hole429, whose centers are equally spaced radially and circumferentiallyaround shaft 399. The radii on which the holes of one hub are positionedare aligned with the same radii in the otherthree hubs. The hubs foreach pair of levers 391 and 499 have their large holes 429 in alignment,no two pairs being at the same place on the circumference. Two shafts411 and 418, one shaft for each group of set-table plates, are insertedthrough these holes, leaving eight unused holes in each hub. In thismachine, only two pairs of levers being used, representing two groups ofsettable plates, only two shafts are used. The remaining eight positionsillustrate the expansibility of this system to accommodate a machine ofmore than two groups of settable plates 36!. By using more holes in thehubs, the system may be correspondingly expanded.

Referring to Fig. 1, the shaft M8 has secured thereon two gears H6 and42 i, gear M6 lying within the large hole in the circumference of hub398 of lever 391, which analyzes the lefthand group of settable platesand gear 424 lying in the large hole in the circumference of hub 398 oflever 409, actuating the plates 2% corresponding to this group ofsettable plates 36L In a similar manner, the shaft 4H has securedthereon two gears 422 and 423 connecting the other lever 391 and lever466, transmitting the position of the right-hand group of settableplates36! to the related plates 2%. The inside bearing surface of levers as?and set are toothed to engage the teeth of the gears 488, 422, 423, and424. Fig. 2, showing the hub of the lever actuating the left-hand groupof plates, will serve to illustrate the principle of operation of theother internal gears. If either lever 391 is moved in relation to itshub, its companion lever Add will move to the same extent and to thesame distance against the urge of its spring 4274. Reference may be madeto the above-mentioned Kreider patent if further explanation is desired.

The plates 35!, the levers 39?, the levers B, and the plates 2% are sopositioned that, if,upon oscillation of shaft 399, the levers 3d! strikeraised plates 36L their companion levers tfiii will not contactforwardly-projecting toes 5 25 (Figs. 2 and 3) of plates 259, whereas,if any plates 361 are not raised, the companion levers 4% will contacttoes 42! on the corresponding plates 259, turning them clockwise. Fourplates 2% are provided for each group of plates 2% and are pivotallysupported on a stub shaft 298 (Figs. 1 and 3) projecting from one of theframe plates, where they'are held from lateral movement on the shaft bycollars see. There is a plate 299 for each plate 298. Rearwardlyprojecting from each plate 299 is a lug 3&2 (Fig. 3), fitting into arounded notch 2%?! formed in the lower end of its corresponding plate235, so that rotary movement of the plate 29% moves its plate 295, aclockwise movement of plate 295? causing a downward movement of plate296 and vice versa. The plates 296 are restricted in their motion bystuds 263 and slots 33!, and, as plates 259 are rotatable only to theextent that lugs 352 can move with notches 297, it follows that plates299 are restricted in their rotary motion. On the periphery of eachplate 259 are two notches 3G3 and 334 adapted to be engaged by aspringpressed positioning pawl 335. The pawls 3G5 allow the plates 299to assume their most clockwise position when engaged in notch 304' andtheir mostcounter-clockwise position when engaged in notch 393. A plate289 can be in only one of the two positions. This means that plates 296must be in either their lowest position or their highest position andwill be yieldingly held there. In Fig. 3, the plates 29B are shown intheir lowest position and the plates 299, therefore, in their clockwiseposition.

All of the plates 296 must first be in the upper position before atransmitting operation can take place. A resetting yoke 39% (Figs. 1 and3), se-

curely mounted on shaft 298, is adapted to turn force can set the presetobjects primarilystated, it

plates 299 to their counter-clockwise position by means of the bail ofthe yoke engaging projecting shoulders 30'! of plates 299 when shaft 298is turned counter-clockwise. The means for giving the counter-clockwisemotion to shaft 298 includes a lever 368 (Fig. 1) pinned to the left endof the shaft 298 and pivotally connected by link 389 to an operatingmeans which is fully disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent No.2,270,960.

Thus it is seen that the transmitting means can cooperate simultaneouslywith two or more groups of settable plates 38! and successively sensethe position, whether upper or lower, of the corresponding plates ofeach group. Whenever one of the settable plates 35! is in the upperposition, the forwardly-extending arm 391 will be arrested and stop therearwardly-extending arm 400 before it can rock the plate 299 and shiftthe plate 296 from the position to which it was reset by the bail of theyoke 39% engaging the projection 387 on the plate 299. If a plate 36! isin a lower position, the arm 39'! will not be arrested, but will travelto its farthest extent of movement and will cause its connected lever409 to engage and rock the plate 299. The rocking of the plate 299'willcause the plate 296 to be shifted from its reset position. Since thesettable plates 36! represent data by their raised or lowered position,the transmitting means, by shifting the plates 29% to positionscorresponding to those of the plates 35!, transfers the data to theplates 2% in order that these plates can control the machine accordingto this data.

The novel means, therefore, provides a compact means which successivelysenses the preset position-of the plates or elements of a group andtransmits this setting to plates or elements of another group. However,this novel means is not limited to transferring data from a single groupof elements to another, for, with this means, the elements of aplurality of groups may be sensed simultaneously and the settingstransferred to elements of other corresponding groups of elements. Itshould also be noted that, with the novel transmitting means, it is notnecessary for the groups of elements from which data is transferred tohave the same side spacing as the groups of elements to which the datais transferred, because the use of the internal gearing enables anydesired side spacing of the various groups of elements to be obtained. Afurther advantage of the transmitting means resides in the fact that asetting means utilizing a small elements, and the transmitting means,being power-operated, can operate after the preset elements have beenset and cantransfer the setting to other elements withoutplacing theburden of operating the other elements on the means which sets thepreset elements.

While the form of mechanism herein shown and described is admirablyadapted to fulfill the is to be understood that it is'not intended toconfine the invention to the one form or embodiment herein disclosed,for it is susceptible of embodiment in various forms all coming withinthe scope of the claims 7 which follow.

What is claimed is:

1. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of-aplurality of elements presettable to represent a control; acorresponding plurality of control elements settable according to thesetting of the presettable elements; and

power-operated means operable after the presettable elements have beenset and successively cooperable with corresponding presettable elementsand control elements for setting the control elements according to thesetting of the presettable elements.

2. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of aplurality of presettable elements which, by their setting, indicate acontrol condition; a corresponding plurality of settable controlelements; transmitting means for transferring the setting from thepresettable elements to the corresponding plurality of elements; meansto move the transmitting means successively into position to cooperatewith corresponding presettable and control elements; and means tooperate the transmitting means in each of said positions to transmit thesetting of the presettable elements to the control elements to therebytransfer the control condition to the control elements.

3. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of a firstplurality of settable elements for representing data by their setting; asecond plurality of settable elements; a laterally shiftableoscillatab-le transmitting means intermediate the first plurality ofsettable elements and the second plurality of settable elements fortransferring data from the first to the second plurality of elements;and power-operated means for shifting the transmitting means laterallyto associate it successively with corresponding elements in the firstand second plurality of elements and for oscillating it each time it isassociated with a pair of elements to transfer the setting from theelement of the first plurality of elements to the corresponding elementof the second plurality of elements, whereby the data represented by thefirst plurality of elements is transferred to the second plurality ofelements.

4. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a shaft; meansto rock the shaft on its axis; means to shift the shaft to and fro onits axis; a plurality of hubs secured to said shaft; a lever rotatablymounted on each hub; means to adjust the levers rotatably on their hubswithout varying the relative angular disposition between selected pairsof said levers; a plurality of yokes designed to confine the rotation ofselected pairs of the levers on to certain limits; and means foryieldingly holding said selected pairs of levers at their limit ofmotion in one direction.

5. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a shaft rockableand shiftable; hubs secured to the shaft; a lever rotatably mounted oneach hub; means to transmit the rotary motion of one lever to anotherlever whether adjacent or not; and means to confine the rotation of thelevers within certain limits.

6. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a plurality ofsets of levers; a shaft on which said levers are rotatably mounted; cansfor shifting the shaft; means for rocking the shaft; and an internalgearing means for rotating the levers of a selected set to a likeextent.

'7. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a shaftshiftable and rockable; a means to shift the shaft on its axis step bystep in one direction and uninterruptedly in the other direction; meansto rock the shaft in a complete oscillation after each shiftingmovement; a plurality of hubs secured on said shaft; levers rotatablymounted on said hubs, the bearthe hubs ing surface of the levers havinginternal gear teeth; interior gears cooperating with the internal gearteeth on the levers; and rods inserted in perimetrically-positionedclearance holes in the hubs joining the interior gears of selectedlevers whereby adjacent or non-adjacent levers may be moved with a fixedangular relation between them.

8. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a shaftshiftable and rockable; a means to shift the shaft step by step in onedirection and uninterruptedly in the other direction; means to rock theshaft in a complete oscillation after each shifting movement; aplurality of hubs secured on said shaft; levers rotatably mounted onsaid hubs, the bearing surface of the levers having internal gear teeth;interior gears cooperating with the internal gear teeth on the levers;rods inserted in perimetricallypositioned clearance holes in the hubsjoining the interior gears of selected levers whereby adjacent ornon-adjacent levers may be moved with a fixed angular relation betweenthem; and yokes limiting the rotation of the levers on the hubs withincertain limits.

9. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a shaft; meansto rock the shaft on its axis: means to shift the shaft to and froparallel to its axis; two hubs secured to said shaft; a lever rotatablymounted on each hub; and means to move the levers rotatably on theirhubs without varying their relative angular disposition thereon.

10. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a shaft; meansto rock the shaft on its axis; means to shift the shaft to and fro onits axis; a plurality of hubs secured to said shaft; a lover rotatablymounted on each hub; and means to move selected pairs of leversrotatably on their hubs without varying the relative angular dispositionbetween the levers of a pair.

ll. In a machine of the class described, in combination; a shaft; meansto rock the shaft on its axis; means to shift the shaft to and fro onits axis: a plurality of hubs secured to said shaft; a lever rotatablymounted on each hub; means to move the levers rotatably on their hubswithout varying the relative angular disposition between selected pairsof said levers; and means to yieldingly hold the levers in a fixedposition on their hubs.

12. In a machine of the class described, in combination, a shaftshiftable and rockable; a means to shift the shaft step by step in onedirection and uninterruptedly in the other direction; means to rock theshaft in a complete oscillation after each shifting movement; aplurality of hubs secured on said shaft; levers rotatably mounted onsaid hubs; the bearing surface of which have internal gear teeth;interior gears cooperating with the internal gear'teeth on the levers;rods inserted in perimetricallypositioned clearance holes in the hubsjoining the interior gears of selected levers whereby adjacent ornon-adjacent levers may be moved with a fixed angular relation betweenthem; yokes limiting the rotation of the levers on the hubs withincertain limits; and means to yieldingly hold the levers at their limitof motion in one direction.

13. In an apparatus of the class described, the combination of aplurality of displaceable elements which, by their displacement,indicate a control condition; a plurality of control elements of saidcertain levers and one of said other le- 10 vers in pairs for likemovement about their hubs; means to shift the shaft step by step tobring pairs of levers successively in cooperation with their relatedelements; and means to rock the shaft after each step-by-step movementto enable the levers to cooperate with their related elements andtransfer the setting of the displaceable elements to the controlelements.

GUNNAR NELSON.

